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11 December 2012

The Apocalypse Is Upon Us - So I've Heard

December 21 is the end of the Mayan Calender. If we are sitting in the writer's room of Supernatural, The X Files, The Walking Dead, Revolution, Falling Skies, Lost...you name it -- there is a LOT of things we can flash out that will look awesome on television. We are obsessed with the end of world scenarios in popular culture -- demons walk the earth, angels get involved, zombies eat brains, militia takes over, aliens colonize earth, cataclysmic events. Very cliche but we love the angst, the darkness and special effects that blow our minds. Our heroes will come to the rescue! Dean and Sam Winchester can pretty much handle all kinds of monsters, demons and zombies. We'll leave the aliens to Mulder and Scully, and Tom Mason. We'll leave the militia to Miles and Charlie. For everything else, there is Mastercard.

While I am not too excited about this year's Christmas for some reasons, I am sure December 22 will see the dawn. My family has already wrapped all my Christmas presents and organised the Christmas menus. Those things cannot go to waste. Some of my friends start spamming my inbox with articles about the trending topic -- The Apocalypse. Unless it's a Supernatural or Revolution spoiler, I don't want to know! But they are interesting read! Here is one.Business Insider has identified 14 places to hide out during the apocalypse. Great! It seems to me that some places are only for the rich and famous. But wait, the only Australia city that was mentioned was Perth. Oh Perth, you put the Dullsville in Dullsville, Dullsville! Two other locations caught my eyes. The first one is the concrete apartment buildings in Warsaw, which are like the ultimate safe houses. The second one is Mount Weather, Virginia, it is home to FEMA's National Emergency Coordinating Center. This is where they moved Dick Cheney to after 9/11. Wait.. they didn't use the Stargate?

We are fascinated with the Apocalypse, for some of us it is our obsession with vampires and zombies. Principal Figgins thinks vampires are real. Our PM, Julia Gillard warned us about zombies. In an recent CNN article, it mentioned the work of a researcher, Jerry Piven. He said "an apocalypse almost embeds a tale of fantasy into reality and provides safe theater for exploring death." Robb Willer, an associate professor of sociology at University of California, Berkeley said "...the apocalypse can be a spectator sport and a reality show for some people." Perhaps, we hate our lives so much that we sit on our asses all day and secretly hope the world will end soon, so we don't have to go to work, pay our bills or tell our partners we want a break up because they like Michael Bublé.

But the reality is, the end of the humanity is not fictional. Global warming; an all out nuclear war between nations; the break out of an incurable disease; the low supply of resources and food; the universe can just switch itself off; and according to this website, "...a plague that wipes out 70% of humanity might actually ensure the survival of our species in the longer-term." The 'Doomsday Seed Vault' is a real place in the mountains of Svalbard and selling bunkers for people to survive the Apocalypse is not unheard of. There are things we can do individually to help prolong the life of Earth. And seriously, if our planet is suddenly hit by another planet, there is nothing we can do about it. It's not like we can evacuate everyone via space ships or a Stargate.

Natural disasters, however, happen all the time and they are happening more frequently than I've ever noticed. My household has one philosophy -- our pantry is always full, as in 'enough-for-zombie-attack-full'. And my brother actually has a bug out bag. Shit happens. Look at SuperSandy! Aussie summer can be dangerous with all the bush fire and stuff. So, it's not a bad idea to be prepared!

I think whatever happens under whatever the circumstance, it reveals who we really are. We live in a very paranoid world, when shit happens, will we become heroes or will we become weak and selfish than we already are? Who are you likely to become if you are a character on Lost or Revolution? And if the world does end on the December 21, what will happen to all of us? If you think demons will walk the earth, zombies will eat brains, militia will take over and aliens will colonize Earth, you can channel your inner Kripke and post your thoughts on Fanfiction.